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OOC
Handle: Nina
Contact: ninatherose @ plurk
Over 18? Yes!
Characters Played: N/A
THE CHARACTER
Character Name: You Watanabe
Series: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Canon Point: Post-Season 1
Character Age: 16
Background: http://love-live.wikia.com/wiki/Watanabe_You
Personality: You Watanabe is a cheerful, energetic and sporty girl with a slight impulsive streak and a deep loyalty to her friends. A very athletic girl with the ability to learn just by watching someone else, You was approached by virtually every sports club at Uranohoshi High School. Instead of being on the swim team or diving team-- for which she was good enough to make the Japanese girls' national team-- she opted to support her childhood friend Chika in her dream to become a school idol, because she'd always wanted to share something they were both passionate about.
You regularly puts her friends' needs in front of hers. She supports Chika from the very beginning even when it becomes clear Chika hasn't been planning it through, even though she could be doing something else. While she's often selfless, this eventually also weighs on her: She comes to resent how close Chika has become with transfer student Riko, feeling supplanted and replaced by her best friend, and likely wouldn't have said anything about it had it not been for the intervention of a third party.
You loves all forms of water activities, but truly loves the sea. Having grown up in a quiet rural fishing village, she feels a deep connection to the ocean. Her father is the captain of a large ship (sometimes translated as "ferry," sometimes as "cruise ship," it's unclear which it is) and she idolizes him in many ways, wanting to follow in his footsteps and often mimicking his nautical mannerisms (like saluting or the phrase "Yousoro," which roughly translates to "aye-aye" or "steady ahead").
You's energy and optimism are very much strengths of hers, but she can also be impulsive to the point of lacking self-preservation. She loves clothes and uniforms (and is the costume designer for Aqours, the school idol group she and Chika start) and at one point nearly jumps off a balcony to catch a piece of clothing someone has discarded from a higher floor; were it not for Chika and Riko catching her, she could have been seriously injured.
All in all, You is an affable tomboyish girl with a deep devotion to her friends that sometimes comes at the cost of her own emotional balance and a tendency to sometimes leap before she looks.
--
(Extended personality/relationships as requested)
One caveat: Love Live Sunshine has only had 13 episodes thus far, with most of the first season focusing on getting the 9 girls of Aqours together and introducing their relationships; each of the girls has had roughly one episode to focus on their personal motivations and struggles (such as Hanamaru's shy, bookish nature, or the third-year students' lingering resentments over the events of two years prior). There will likely be more examples to come in the second season, since they've gotten all the establishing/introduction out of the way by then!
To that end, in regards to You putting the emotions of others ahead of her own, the sole major example we have thus far is her previously mentioned support for Chika. This takes several forms: First and foremost, joining Aqours instead of continuing with her swim team/diving is a major sacrifice, as she's giving up things she loves doing (and is good at) to help Chika accomplish her own goal. When she's asked to replace Riko as Chika's dance partner in a performance (which Riko can't make, due to having a piano recital of her own), the two of them struggle to get the steps right until You tells Chika to just do what Chika does with Riko, and she'll just follow and mimic. Even after identifying her jealousy of Riko as one of the things eating her up inside, You straight-up tells Riko that she thinks she and Chika make a great duo for their performance.
You also tells Mari that one of the reasons she's been fine with letting all 9 members of Aqours join (rather than the school idol club just being her and Chika as she'd initially thought), is that she'd worried her innate ability to learn things quickly might make Chika feel inferior. There's also a minor occurrence of it earlier, after their disastrous performance in Tokyo, the entire group is devastated, but rather than dealing with her own feelings, You keeps trying to get Chika (who is feigning sunniness) to acknowledge how she actually feels.
In the SIF mobile game, You is also implied to spend a great deal of time working on the group's costumes, sometimes staying up late to do so.
There are many more examples of her being impulsive (though some are tell, rather than show). In her initial character profile, You mentions that she practiced high diving by jumping off cliffs as a kid, and that she also loves to dive off her father's ferry, both of which are rather dangerous particularly for a child. In her New Years' profile, she mentions that her resolution is to try and sit and listen to people because she's often chided for being hasty. Sometimes it takes more comical form-- when the girls first go to Tokyo, You comes across an ad for a costume shop... and spends the rest of the trip wearing various outfits just because she can, really.
While You's most important relationship thus far explored in the story is with Chika, she also has several other close relationships with the other girls in Aqours. Her second-oldest friend is third-year student Kanan, who often acts as something of an older sister to You; when You is trying to design costumes for a nautical-themed performance (in SIF) Kanan is the one who grounds her in trying to understand how other people perceive the ocean rather than just going with the first thing that comes into her head. As You's fellow athlete and swimmer (Kanan's family owns a dive shop), the two often bond over their mutual love of the sea and everything about it.
Despite her jealousy over Riko's closeness with Chika, You also becomes close with Riko herself, encouraging her on the eve of Riko's concert. (While it isn't in the series proper yet, one of the magazine profiles indicates that Riko and You often spend time together; Riko remarks that despite You's athleticism, she's remarkably vulnerable to cold weather). You is also close with the first-year student Ruby Kurosawa, who helps her make costumes. If Kanan is an older sister to You, Ruby is a younger sister, and many scenes in the SIF game have You teaching Ruby the finer points of costume design and creation.
Powers/Abilities: You has no supernatural powers whatsoever.
She does, however, have several mundane skills:
*She's very good at learning by watching, easily mimicking anything from dance moves to curry recipes.
*She's athletic, a national-level high diver, a capable swimmer, and in very good shape all around.
*She has basic knowledge of judo (enough to execute a successful shoulder throw).
*She's a talented cook (the only one who finds success while running the beach snack bar) and good at designing, drawing, and sewing costumes and other clothes.
*She has at least a base knowledge of sailing and other ship-related things thanks to her father.
*She is a competent school idol, which requires both singing and dancing simultaneously.
Power Nerfs (if applicable): She's got none to nerf!
Inventory: Just a standard change of clothes and her sketchbook! Maybe she also has a half-finished uniform she's been working on?
Incentives: You will likely want to be assured that she won't have to hurt anyone to help them. More importantly, she'll insist that she be told if her family and the other 8 members of Aqours are also on board/that they'll be protected and kept safe.
SAMPLES
http://elnyan.dreamwidth.org/721.html?thread=4305#cmt4305
http://bakerstreet.dreamwidth.org/4252022.html?thread=1923528310#cmt1923528310
ACP link